Penguins Room: Crosby Scores; Letang Chirps, ‘That Freaking Mustache!’

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ three-game homestand ended on another feel-good moment as Blake Lizotte scored the empty net goal to seal the win, and defenseman Ryan Graves dropped the gloves at the final horn to defend his team’s honor after a couple of dirty hits by Montreal Canadiens defensemen Arber Xhekaj.

Xhekaj speared Michael Buntings in the nether regions during a second-period power play and tried to knee Noel Acciari in the final seconds.

The Penguins won 3-1, their second win in a row. It was also Sidney Crosby’s second consecutive multi-goal game and third-straight multi-point game.

Crosby’s offense has bloomed since coach Mike Sullivan paired him with Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell.

“(I’m) just trying to be in the right spots. Sometimes, when you press, you end up guessing or hesitating, and it ends up snowballing a bit. I think just getting back to being good positionally, just fundamental stuff, and then trusting that the chances will come,” said Crosby. “Obviously, playing with Racks and Geno, we’ve generated some looks, we have the puck, and I think that builds some confidence too.

“They’ve been unbelievable, so with just the way we’re playing, we’re defending better, and it’s way more fun to play that way.”

The Penguins captain scored four consecutive Penguins goals over two games until Lizotte hit the clincher Saturday. After a humbling road trip and a disappointing start to the homestand in which they lost to Minnesota 5-3 despite a 2-0 lead, the team is tightening up their defensive game and limiting the mistakes that have submarined any chance they’ve gotten.

“It’s just going over the fundamentals, the same things we went over for a while here, but just reinforcing them and really breaking it down into the small things,” said Crosby. “All those little details add up to winning hockey, and it’s nice to get rewarded for it. I think that’s good for us just to see that and feel that.”

Kris Letang

Not all of Kris Letang’s comments were fit to print Saturday as he chirped his buddy Crosby.

“He put an emphasis on shooting more. Everything is going to open up even more because he’s got so much attention,” Letang said of Crosby’s hot streak. “I’m glad he’s the mustache man again. That freaking mustache gets him going.”

Letang also said Crosby has been pushing him to groom the facial hair to just a mustache, “Maybe I’ll f*cking try it,” he said, unable to keep a straight face.

Alex Nedeljkovic

The Penguins goalie has been an unheralded part of the last two Penguins wins. He stopped 25 of 26 shots, including backstopping the Penguins when they got a bit wobbly in the third period, perhaps trying too hard to protect the lead rather than continuing their puck possession.

Nedeljkovic improved his season stats to 2-2-1 with a .903 save percentage and a 2.75 goals against average. He’s allowed only two goals in the last two games combined.

There wasn’t a specific meeting or pounding-the-table moment for the team, but a series of conversations about starting to play defense like professional players should.

“We’re just paying a little bit more attention to the details. We’re not making that big mistake,” said Nedeljkovic. “Mistakes are going to happen throughout the game, but it’s not that huge, egregious bad pass up the middle or shooting right into somebody’s shin pads. We’re playing smarter in our end and through the neutral zone. And we’re having a lot more sustained zone time because of it.”